" The reader will see the force of such an appeal,
when he remembers that Mar Shimon had forbidden these people to
receive the missionaries because they preached. This was followed by
a statement of the doctrines that Jesus preached, in which he did
not fail to bring out the essence of the gospel. When he sat down,
Khamis, the brother of Deacon Tamo, followed with a most impassioned
exhortation. The missionaries had thought him a good preacher
before, but the place and the circumstances--he was among his own
native mountains--seemed to carry him beyond himself. All through
this region, the people appeared to render as much honor to him as
they would have done to Mar Shimon. The assembly dispersed, and the
travellers lay down where they were, to battle with the sand-flies
till the welcome dawn lit up the conspicuous summits high above
them.
Almost every moment of the next forenoon was filled by personal
religious conversation with many who never heard such truths before.
In the evening, even more fixed attention was given to another
service in the open air, at the village of Boobawa, for the pious
Mar Ogen[1] was then living there, and the bright light of his piety
had not shone in vain.
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